When you settle in to watch the annual spectacular of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, your viewing experience will be missing something. No, it's not just the cast of Glee (banished due to the show's unusual popularity on the rival FOX Network); it will also include a PETA advertisement intended for just this audience. And for once, the famously edgy animal rights group is not showing too much skin (of the gorgeous or not-so-gorgeous variety) or brainlessly offending whole classes of society.

No. This time, NBC has decided, Americans can't handle the truth about turkeys. Specifically, the truth about how turkeys are raised and slaughtered so they can end up, neatly plastic-wrapped and hard as 15-pound flesh-colored rocks, in supermarkets everywhere.

While your kids are stressing about college, as in their essays and SAT scores, you're probably stressing about college planning, as in coming up with the money. Of course you want your kids to have the best education possible -- but have you seen what the best education costs these days? Don't worry -- with these top 10 tips for college planning, you may not have to spend the rest of your life paying for the next four years of your kid's life.

College Planning Tip #1: Negotiate your financial aid. You should start to receive financial aid packets from colleges about two weeks after receiving an acceptance letter, and these packets are crucial for college planning. In fact, it can help in your final college planning decision, as schools vary widely in what they'll offer, as they present what they can do to try to make up the difference between their fees and your expected contribution. They calculate this amount via several factors: your financial need, your kid's academic achievements and the aid they have available. This calculation often poses the biggest problem for middle-income families who are college planning -- they have too much to qualify but too little to pay.

If you've heard of Zhu Zhu Pets, those furry, robotic toy hamsters, you likely know they're popular. And now we know how popular.

The Associated Press interviewed Chris Handy, who, after watching a story about their newfound fame on The Today Show, bought 15 Zhu Zhu Pets at a Target store (they retail for about $8 to $10 a piece) and then sold them online. He made $1,000, what the AP says is a 900% profit.

Here we go again.

When the concept of "Mommyblogging" first hit big, scoring a payday meant getting a book deal, and the only scandal was how some of the novels produced pumped up the sex content over the spit-up.

But then the tables turned and somehow the term became a pejorative for "sell-out." Now moms who blog stand accused at every turn of taking freebies, shilling products while secretly on the company payroll and of profiting from a huge payola system of their own devise.

There must be money involved if the Federal Trade Commission saw fit to intervene and start requiring bloggers to disclose freebies or financial relationships as of Dec. 1. But is a pot of gold really out there for bloggers?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are being announced or leaked at such a rapid rate its getting difficult to keep track. Of all the retailers, Toys R Us may well be the most aggressive with the deals and now it is expanding online discounts for the big day, with free shipping, bonuses with purchase, and some special payment plans.

There's even an online layaway program called Bill Me Later. Through Saturday, November 28, new Bill Me Later customers will receive $10 off purchases of $30 or more, with no payments for up to 90 days. In addition, all customers who opt to use Google Checkout will receive $10 off purchases of $60 or more.

Around my house, we don't make the decision to pile into the car and head over to our local Cineplex as easily as we once did. It costs a lot of money these days to see talking animals, wild things and giant meatballs falling from the sky -- and don't get me started on the popcorn.

Going to see the latest kid's film use to be a no-brainer and if the adults slept through it, well, it didn't really matter, but no more. When a family of four has to pay a total of $40.50 to see a "regular" movie, or $56.50 to see that movie in digital 3D, or splurges to see that same movie in digital 3D playing on the "giant" IMAX screen for a whopping $60.50, it suddenly becomes very important that everyone is at least mildly amused or entertained.

To buy tickets to all of the new movies coming out would cost literally hundreds of dollars, and if you throw in drinks and snacks -- there goes college. How to find one that's family-friendly and worth the expense?

Movie reviews for kids are not new, but they are getting increasingly relevant as families demand more of a sure-bet for their entertainment budget. It's impossible to promise that everyone will like a movie, but if you know who to listen to there will be more hits than misses.

Most of the websites are free, such as Kids-in-Mind., Commonsensemedia, Parentpreviews, and Moviemom.

DailyCandy, the often irreverent, quirky guide to style and scene has developed a devoted following of online fashionistas seeking to be first to find out who, what and where is hip, fresh and now. Offering tips and trend alerts via email categorized by region and "everywhere" (i.e.national), the website will soon be taking the next logical step toward global style domination. Instead of just talking about fashion, they will be selling it.

Looking back at my childhood during the 1990s, I now realize that the Internet and I have a pretty good relationship – we grew up together.

As trite as this may sound, the Internet targeted everyone, but more specifically generation Y. I remember rushing home from school to plug the modem into the phone jack, creating a dead line that blocked all incoming phone calls, all to get connected to the Internet.

I lived for that free flow of information and connectivity to the world outside of my enclosed bedroom. That AOL voice that said 'Welcome' opened the doors to a central nucleus in which I was granted access to everyone from around the world at my fingertips.

The good thing was that it was all free. Even as a child, I understood that these "free" Web sites made money from those pop-up and banner ads that appeared everywhere. I knew that I was being targeted by outside companies, but I understood the value of the Internet, and continued to log on and participate.

Too big for Santa's lap this year -- or does the whole idea just sort of creep you out? If you're not up for waiting in line at the mall, and the man-in-red isn't returning your emails, there's another way to get your wish list heard -- without bribing the big guy with cookies and schnapps (or is that just me?).

Velvettag.com, Freegiftregistry.com, Mygiftlist.com, Myregistry.com and Wishpot.com are free, one-stop, all-occasion gift registries that allow members to create wish lists from an unlimited number of online retailers. Instead of slogging through site after site, Kris Kringle can find out exactly what you -- or the kids -- are dreaming of this year. Wishpot.com also allows members to prioritize items with helpful phrases such as: "I want it", "I really, really want it", "I wouldn't mind having it", and "I neeeed it" (this last comment referring to one subscriber's desperate plea for a certain cell phone strap). whether or not you've been naughty or nice is still something you'll have to take up with Santa.

Dodgeball: perhaps no grade school sport is infused with more cringing memories and dark humor.

And the story of 12-year-old Shane Reese surely has both elements, along with a little "what were they thinking?" and could spell doom for the activity's future in New York schools.

The boy's been offered $20,000 by the Bronx school district thanks to an accidental ball in the teeth. A judge will decide if that's enough.

Let's take you back to Dec. 22, 2008, at Intermediate School 219 in the Bronx, N.Y. It was a rainy day and really close to Christmas -- the Bronx school district doesn't let out for winter break until Dec. 24 -- so many teachers had already taken off for the holiday. What to do with 100 students cooped up and buzzing over the upcoming holidays? A friendly game of dodgeball, of course!

Off to the school gym they went, where it was extremely crowded and none of the traditional soft rubber balls were to be found. No matter: plenty of soccer balls were rolling around the equipment room. Those will work, right? (Ouch.)

If you happen to be bringing baby over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving, you're not alone. Despite the fact The Air Transport Authority is reporting a 4% decline in air travelers, Gail Weinholzer, director of public affairs for AAA said the auto club still expects 40 million people to travel this holiday. Thirty-five million of them will be driving their own cars.

If you're traveling with kids, you not only have to pack your patience, but also a whole lot of gear. It can be tempting to stay home, lock the doors and order-in Chinese.

But tradition calls. In an attempt to actually see out the windows of our SUV, my family recently invested in one of those soft-sided, roof-top storage thingies that strap to the roof rails on top of the car. It definitely helps, but it also transforms our ride into a cross between Vacation, the not-so-funny sequel and Grapes of Wrath.

If you'd rather not go the Sherpa route or are looking to avoid outrageous fees for checking items under the plane, baby equipment rentals seek to offer the solution. Stocked with the kind of sanity saving amenities to which baby has become accustomed (high-chair, Exersaucer, baby gates, infant swing, jogger, double jogger, Boppy ring, etc.) instead of schlepping a frazzled parent might consider renting --and it's not too late to make reservations for those must-have items.

From the "You ain't gonna believe this" file comes this gem: Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro, N.C. unveiled a plan to raise much-needed funds by selling middle schoolers better grades.

A $20 "donation" would get you (or your poor kid, who really has grounds for a lawsuit if you would pony up cash for something like this) 20 test points that could be used to boost grades on the test of that student's choosing.

Principal Susie Shepherd's explanation? "Last year they did chocolates, and it didn't generate anything," she told the News Observer.

Parents are no strangers to squabbles with kids. For some, it's cleaning their room. While others fight over their kid's homework.

While those can be logical battlegrounds to enter, experts say arguing over food -- specifically if it's over your child being a vegetarian -- aren't worth the fight.

According to Jennifer Nelson, director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, food battles can be stressful for kids. Especially if they involve peers.

Leslie Lait immediately recognized the adorable, pale-blue, corduroy overalls she unwrapped at her baby shower. The infant-sized outfit with the tags still on was the same pair she had given to the very same friend, who was now regifting it back to her.

Boomerang gifts are not new, and they're about to get a lot more common as consumers seek to uphold gift-giving traditions on a shoestring budget. Thrifty is good, thoughtless is bad and public humiliation is even worse.

According to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation, Americans plan on spending an average of $682.74 on holiday-related shopping this year. That figure represents a 3.2% drop from spending in 2008 -- and it's not because we have fewer friends.

With endowments in the toilet, state aid on the decline, and families scrounging for cash to cover tuition increases, it's nice to know that one group of college constituents aren't suffering: top flight, 7-figure football coaches.

An extensive study conducted by USA Today found that at least 25 college football coaches are making more than $2 million this season -- up 100% from two years ago. The average pay for a head coach in the 120-school Football Bowl Subdivision is up 28% in two years and 46% in three years. The average coach in that elite conference earns $1.36 million.

A survey of bowl-division college presidents conducted by Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics found that 85% of respondents considered the pay packages football and basketball coaches are taking to be "excessive."